Bowling ball rolling device



May 8, 1962 J. F. RAAB BOWLING BALL ROLLING DEVICE Filed July 27, 1960INVENTOR. Joseph E Raab 7 fi TTORNE V57 United States Patent Ofiice3,933,557 Patented May 8, 1962 3,033,567 BOWLING BALL ROLLING DEVICEJoseph F. Raab, 2904 Espenlaub, Kansas City, Kans. Filed July 27, 1960,Ser. No. 45,701 Claims. (Cl. 273-54) This invention relates to a devicefor manually rolling a bowling ball and more particularly 'to acup-shaped receptacle which receives the bowling ball whereby controlledmovement may be imparted to the ball as it is thrown from the device.

It is the primary object of this invention to utilize the desirablecharacteristics of a perfectly balanced bowling ball, that is, onewithout holes or other means which would throw the ball'out of perfectbalance, whereby upon elimination of the holes or other handles orgripping means for the ball the bowling ball may be thrown or rolledwith controlled motion and accuracy through the use of the subjectinvention.

A yet furtherobject of this invention is to provide a bowling ballrolling device which may be used by handicapped persons who havesuffered a loss of a thumb or fingers, which device will enable them toactively participate in the sport of bowling.

A yet further aim of the present invention is to provide asemi-spherical, cup-Shaped receptacle which receives the balancedbowling ball, which receptacle has means associated therewith forreceiving the hand of the user, the receptacle and ball carried therebythus being controlled by the user of the device.

Other objects of this invention include the provision of a strip offrictional material on the inner surface of the receptacle, means forsecuring the receptacle to the wrist of the user thereof and otherdetails of construction which will become apparent from the followingspecification and accompanying drawing, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of the bowling ball rolling deviceshowing the same as carried by a hand of the user thereof, parts beingbroken away and in section to reveal details of construction;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the device showing the same as carried bythe hand of the user; and

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary view showing the wrist band which is hingedlyconnected to the device.

The bowling ball rolling device forming the subject matter of thepresent invention is broadly designated by the number and includes asemi-spherical, cup-shaped receptacle 12, which receptacle has a bead 14formed at the upper rim 16 thereof. The rim 16 describes a circle and,as is apparent from FIG. 1 of the drawing, the receptacle 12 is ofsuificient size to substantially encase one half of a conventionalbowling ball.

The receptacle 12 may be made from a lightweight ma terial such asaluminum or other suitable material. Formed on the outer surface 18 ofreceptacle 12 is a finger-receiving sleeve 20 and a thumb-receivingsleeve 22, the same being disposed at suitable angles on what may beconsidered as the normally rearmost arcuate surface portion ofreceptacle 12 whereby the thumb of the user may be comfortably insertedwithin sleeve 22 and the remaining fingers of the hand comfortablyinserted within sleeve 20. As is apparent from the drawing, when thehand of the user is inserted within sleeves 20 and 22 as above describedthe palm of the hand substantially underlies the receptacle 12 and moreparticularly the portion thereof between sleeve 20 and 22 and the rim 16disposed above said sleeves 20 and 22.

A connecting link 24 is secured to bead 14 and the outer surface 18 ofreceptacle 12 above sleeves 20 and 22, the connecting link 24 beingsubstantially L-shaped and having a first leg 26 secured to the outersurface 18 of receptacle 12 and a second leg 28 extending outwardly fromrim 16. a

A wrist band 30 has a hinge 32 secured thereto by means of a hinge plate34, the hinge 32 serving to pivotally interconnect wrist band 30 withthe second leg 28 of connecting link 24. Hinge 32 is provided with alockable hinge pin 36 whereby the link 24-and receptacle 12 may be fixedin the desired position with respect to wrist band 30 and hinge plate 34by tightening a wing nut 38 carried by the end of pin 36.

Wrist band 30 is of a metal material such as aluminum or the like and isprovided with an inner layer of cushioning material 40 which liesbeneath the outer metallic portion of the wristband 30 and next to thewrist of the user. An adjustable fastening strap 42 serves tointerconnect the ends of wrist band 30 whereby the same may be tightlysecured about the wrist of the user of bowling ball rolling device 10.Wrist band 30 is provided with a hinge 44 intermediate the ends thereofwhereby, when strap 42 is undone the band 30 may be quickly and easilyremoved from the wrist of the wearer by swinging the hinged end portion46 away from the wearers wrist.

To allow adjustment of receptacle 12 with respect to band 30 and insurethat the receptacle 12 may be comfortably carried within the hand of theuser thereof, hinge plate 34 is provided with a slot 48 extendinglongitudinally thereof which receives an upstanding bolt 50 carried byband 30 whereby plate 34 and its associated parts may be moved into thedesired position of use and fastened therein by a nut 52 threaded uponbolt 50. To aid in and guide the movement of plate 34 with respect toWrist band 30 and to hold the same in the desired fixed position andagainst movement about bolt 50, band 30 is provided with a pair ofupstanding flange members 54 which engage the longitudinal edges ofplate 34 and overlie positions of the upper marginal edges thereof, asclearly illustrated in FIG. 2.

Carried on the inner surface of receptacle 12 is an arcuate strip offrictional material 56, which strip of material is mounted adjacent therim 16 of receptacle 12 and which strip 56 has its center pointsubstantially opposite the point of interconnection of connecting link24 with receptacle 12. Strip 56 extends substantially halfway around thecircle defined by rim 16 and is of a sulficient thickness to engage aportion of the bowling ball 58 placed within receptacle 12, all as bestseen in FIG. 1.

Thus when the bowling ball 58 is carried within receptacle 12 there is aslight space 60 between the lowermost surface of ball 58 and theinterior surface of receptacle 12. Additionally, the rim 16circumscribes ball 58, when the ball is carried within receptacle 12, ata point substantially above the horizontal center line of gravity ofball 58 when so disposed.

As is apparent from the foregoing, a perfectly balanced bowling ballsuch as 58 may be utilized in connection with device 10, and may bethrown or rolled therefrom, controlled movement or rotation of thebowling ball being imparted thereto as a result of the engagement of thesurface of the ball by strip 56 as'the ball 58 moves from the receptacle12. It will be further recognized that the sport of bowling may beenjoyed by persons who have lost their fingers and are handicapped sofar as the utilization of a conventional bowling ball with finger holestherein may be concerned as a result of device 10 being usable by aperson who does not have all of the fingers present on a hand. Thus lessthan four fingers may be inserted within sleeve 26 and effective usestill may be made of device 1! It will be also recognized that freedomof swinging movement of receptacle 12 is permitted by interconnectinghinge 32 whereby the sired, be locked in a relatively fixed positionwith respect 7 to the band 39 and wrist of the user of device 10 throughthe use of lockable hingepin 36, bolt 54? and nut 52 whereby the handof-the user and device 149 become virtually an integral unit for thepurpose of rolling a bowling ball.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desiredto be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. A device for rolling a bowling ball comprising a cup-shapedreceptacle for receiving the ball; means mounted on the receptacle forreceiving the hand of the user of the device; a band adapted to encirclethewrist of the userof the device; hingeumeans interconnecting said bandandtsaid receptacle .for permitting the latter to be shiftedrelative tothe bandandthereby said wrist when said hand .isreceived by said rneansmounted on said. receptacle; and a strip of frictional material carriedby said receptacle on the inner face thereof.

2. A device for rolling a bowling ball asset forth in.

4. A device for rolling a bowling'ball asset: forth in.

claim 3 wherein said strip is of arcuate configuration and lies adjacentthe rim of the receptacle opposite to the point of interconnection ofsaid band.

5. A device for rolling a bowling ball comprising a cup-shapedreceptacle for receiving the bowling ball; a finger-receiving sleevemounted on the outer surface of the receptacle; a thumb-receiving sleevemounted on the outer surface of 'the receptacle adj'acentsaid.finger-receiving-sleeve whereby the hand of the user of the-device maybe inserted within said sleeves to a position substantially underlyingsaid receptacle; 2. band spaced from and above saidfinger-receivingsleeve, said: bandbeing adapted to adjustably encircle the wrist of theuser of the device when the hand is inserted in saidsle'eves; hingemeans interconnecting, saidvband and said receptacle for permitting thelatter to be shifted relative to the band and.

Referencesv Citedin. the file of thispatent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,477,460 Smith- Dec. 11, 1923 1,637,278 Renz -July 26,:1927' FOREIGNPATENTS 67,794 France: June 29; 1955 (Addition to No 1,089,248)

